Investigation on wrist musculoskeletal disorders and its influencing factors of frontline workers in an automobile manufacturing industry

To analyze the current status and influencing factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) of the wrist/hand among frontline workers in an automobile manufacturing enterprise and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention of wrist/hand WMSDs and the adoption of health intervention measures to alleviate the disorders.

Using convenience sampling, frontline workers from the general assembly and welding workshops of an automobile manufacturing enterprise in Beijing were surveyed from August to October 2023. The prevalence of wrist/hand WMSDs in the past year was investigated by the Chinese version of the Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire. The logistic regression analysis was employed to analyze the influencing factors of the occurrence of WMSDs of the wrist/hand.

A total of 648 questionnaires were distributed in this study, and 591 valid questionnaires were returned, with a valid response rate of 91.2%. The overall prevalence of wrist/hand WMSDs among these workers was 8.1% (48/591). Multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of WMSDs of the wrist/hand was 5.194 times higher (OR = 5.194, 95%CI: 2.239-12.050) for workers who experienced bending, stretching, side bending, or rotation of the wrist during work, and 2.373 times higher (OR = 2.373, 95%CI: 1.266-4.448) for those for whom the tools, handheld devices, or workpieces were too large or too small to be easily held.

The automobile manufacturing enterprise should take measures to improve the adverse wrist postures of frontline workers, as well as to improve tools or handheld devices to facilitate grasping, in order to prevent the occurrence of wrist/hand WMSDs.